Chair-seat



(No Model.)

A. EVANS.

CHAIR SEAT. i No. 516,003. Patented Mar. 6,- 11-894.

my 4M igmc M "Uwrrnn STATES A'IENT FFICEO ALFRED EVANS, OF NEWBURG, NEYV YORK.

CHAIR-SEAT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 516,003, dated March 6,1894.

Application filed June 3, 1893. Serial. No. 47 J (NO 1110561) To whom it array concern:

Be it known that I, ALFRED Evans, a citizen of the United States, residing at Newburg, in the county of Orange and State of New York, have invented an Improvement in Chair-Seats, of which the following is a specifioation.

Chair seats have been made of reeds, cane, &c., 1nterw0ven, but difficulty has been experienced in introducing such interwoven rnaterlals into a wooden frame so that the seat itself is at or near the same level as the surrounding frame.

In my present invention I make use of rods or rungs around which the cane or reed is passed and these rods are received into holes in the wooden frame and the crossing reeds or canes are turned down at their ends and secured to the inner surfaces of such wooden frame, and to aid in keeping the seat formed of the interwoven reeds or cane at the same level as the surrounding frame, bars or rungs are employed adjacent to those around which the reeds are passed and acting to maintain the interwoven reeds at the desired level.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a plan view representing some of the reeds in position, and Fig. 2 is a vertical section at the line a:

"ljhe seat or back frame for the chair or other article is usually of wood and in the drawings I have represented such a seat adapted to a chair.

lhe front rail A, side rails B and back rail Q are secured together atthe angles by mortises and tenons as usual, and it is advantageous that the tenons F shall be upon the pieces B so as to run in the same direction as the rungs or bars D and E. These rungs or bars D and E are preferably of wood and pass into holes in the front rail A and back rail 0 respectively, but such rungs or bars might run across the seat instead of from front to back. The reeds, canes hr similar strips (l are passed around the rungs or bars D from side to side and interwoven with the warp reeds H which pass from front to back of the chair, and when the rungs or bars E are employed in addition to the rungs or bars D, the reeds G pass up over such bars E, and these bars E maintain the interwoven reeds or canes at the same level or nearly so as the upper surface of the seat frame, and the interlacing of the warp reeds H is usually accomplished in the ordinary manner as the reeds G are passed around the respective rungs or bars D and E. The warp reeds II are of sufficient length to be turned down at their ends and secured by Wire staples I or similar devices to the inner surfaces of the chair frame; and it will be understoodthat if thereeds or canes are interwoven in making the chair seat when the front A or back B, or both, are slipped slightly away upon their respective tenons, there will be ample room for the introduction of the reeds or canes and the interweaving of the same, so that when the parts A and O are pressed back to place the reeds or canes will he slipped as closely together as desired, and glue or other adhesive material is to be applied to retain the parts in their proper positions when set together, and the chair frame as a whole is made much stronger than usual, in consequence of the rungs or bars D and E passing into holes in the frame and thereby stidening the frame, instead of having to depend only upon the tenons within the mortises.

If the inner edges of the side pieces B are flat and square with the top or bottom surfaces of the frame, grooves or recesses will exist to a greater or less extent between the reeds or canes and the upper and inner edges of the frame; to avoid this I prefer to recess the inner edges of the side pieces B of the frame as shown, so that the rungs or bars D are applied as closely into those recesses as consistent with the easy introduction of the reeds or canes between the parts; and it will be apparent that in place of recessing the side pieces B a strip of thick veneer or similar material might be applied, as indicated by the dotted line 2, upon the top surface of the side pieces, the same overlapping the reeds or canes where they pass around the rungs or bars D.

It is usually advantageous to make use of round rungs or bars D and E, as they are less liable to injure the reeds or canes, out such bars may be made square in section many other convenient shape.

In the present invention the bars or rungs that are parallel to the sides of the frame and pass at their ends into holes in the front and back portions of the frame, serve to strengthen the frame and facilitate the construction, because it will be apparent that almost all the strain upon the seat is taken by the bars D and E, and these cannot be drawn together by the strain because their ends pass into the holes in the parts A and 0, and when the chair frame is being put together the respective parts can be glued, and the side pieces B of the frame only require to be connected to the front and back portions A and either by dowels or I tongues and grooves, such parts being glued together as the parts are driven up to place after the seat bottom has been introduced. It will also be apparent that the seat bottom can he laid up or woven together with the canes or reeds while the bars D and E are held in any suitable frame, and such seat bottom can be either applied immediately to the frame or transported to the place Where the frames are manufactured, thus allowing the seat bottom to be made at one place and the frames at another place.

I claim as my invention 1'. The combination in aseatwith the bars orrungs D and reeds or canes passing around the same as they are laid from side to side, of rungs or bars E beneath the reeds or canes and near the outer rungs or bars for raising up and; holding the material of the seat, substantially as specified.

2. The combination with the seat frame having side pieces recessed in their inner edges, of rungs or bars adjacent to such recessed edges, cane, reed, or similar material passed around the rungs or bars, and interlaced warps secured at their ends to the frame, substantially as set forth.

3. The combination with the seat frame having side pieces recessed in their inner faces, of rungs or bars adjacent to such recessed edges, cane, reed or similar material passed around the rungs or bars, interlaced warps secured at their ends to the frame, and the supporting rungs or bars E adjacent to the rungs or bars D at a level or nearly so with the surface of the frame, substantially as set forth.

4. The combination with the surrounding frame, of rungs or bars within the frame passin g at their ends into holes in the frame, reeds, cane or similar material passing around the rungs or bars and having interwoven warps, the upper inner edges of the frame overhang ing the reeds as they pass around the rungs or bars, and staples or similar devices for securing the ends of the warp reeds or canes to the inner surfaces of the seat. substantially as set forth.

5. The combination with the seat frame, of round bars or rungs parallel to two sides of such frame and passing at their ends into holes in the other two sides of the seat frame and reeds or similar material passing around such rungs and interwoven material forming the seat bottom, and rungs or bars beneath the seat bottom to hold up the same to the level of the seat frame or nearly so, substantially as specified.

Signed by me this 17th day of May, 1893.

' ALFRED EVANS. Witnesses:

BENJ. MoOLUNe, JOHN A. STAPLES. 

